Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

tcab I am so sick of Hollywood formula crap that I embraced this movie, even with all its faults. Duvall is an artist of depth, and he's created a movie here of some substance, in spite of the fact that the improvised dialog is often dull and even meaningless. But the movie has an ambiance, albeit slow, and atmosphere. Most of all, though, it is refreshingly free of most of the typical Hollywood manipulations. One could say that Duvall threw in the whole assassination idea just to carry the tango business—and that is true. But The tango part had no plot at all, so that the assassination plot serves as a sort of skeleton to support the real business, which is tango.Some have observed that tango dancing is an acquired taste that probably left much of the audience cold. But like all movies that introduce you to something you don't have any prior knowledge of, it is not the subject itself that's important, but rather the reaction and relationship of the character(s) to that subject. His love of tango gave the Duvall assassin an unusual depth of character that made him not only more interesting than your average assassin, but made him more human. This fact not only justified his getting away with murder, but also solved the common problem in movies of trying to portray sociopaths as believable people.I won't dwell on the many shortcomings of this movie because I found it refreshingly original, even honest, and as I said, mostly free of cynical Hollywood tricks.

XweAponX Someone else states that the assassin as played by Robert Duval does not make you sympathize with the role, which is so wrong... I do not agree with that, as I was captivated by this man. From the start, it is clear that "John J. Anderson" is a cold blooded mafia assassin. That he performs his job with no moral issues or other qualms is quite clear, yet he has a complicated and satisfying personal life and a special relationship with his girl friend and her adolescent daughter- which he keeps very differentiated from his "job". He is also a very likable but cranky older man, much like many of other Duval roles in the past decade.What is also clear is that he is being set up from the start by the "client" his "boss" is dealing with, and the boss is even daring the client to make the job more difficult for Anderson - And so you are expecting a double cross, and we are not surprised when it happens, and of course, John J. Anderson, having done this job so efficiently and so well that he has lived to become an older man, smells it in the wind and knows just what to do.Not needing to go into the details of this it is clear that any lesser man with the same profession would have been sacrificed up to some Argentinian political agenda- Anderson has to extricate himself, and that he does. It does not matter that as the film viewer you expect him to do it... The way that he extricates himself is both amusing and interesting.Due to unexpected delays, Anderson has to spend more time in Argentina than he originally thought, missing his "Little Girl's" birthday, which upsets him more than the delay itself. But to take up time as he is waiting for the go, he has been intrigued by Tango and he gets to see Tango dancers in the country where the dance form originated. So, what makes this film ultimately pleasurable and interesting, is that Anderson starts to frequent dance halls where he eventually sees a dancer Manuela (Luciana Pedraza) and is instantly connected to her. And so he takes steps to meet her and begins an interesting relationship with her, not an affair, but a true friendship, and in this time he gets real Tango lessons and is brought to some clubs where the art form is being shown in full blossom. To see the various dancing by Professional Tango dancers in various places in the film-- Is just wonderful and a good side twist to the film, bringing your attention away from the fact that Anderson is quite probably trapped in Argentina and is being hunted. Maybe not the ideal film to represent "Tango" in itself, but this film is at least a curt nod to the art form, a genuine homage. The character Anderson, upon seeing his own inadequacies with his dancing, never postures or pretends that he knows more than he does, he meekly accepts Tango lessons from Manuela's sister and forms a bond with her whole family.And so as Anderson Tangos in his Mind with Luciana Pedraza, he also dances with his Argentinian Handlers, Police, and even Argentinian Government officials... All the way back to NYC. One of the better films I have seen lately, rates multiple viewings. I would say to any hard core Tango people, this film is not all about Tango, it simply includes Tango, so it is not meant to show us everything about that art form, just to give us a short look at how it is really done in Argentina.

mlg-895-17188 One of the things that draws me to Duvall's movies, especially as he has aged, is the realism he tries to inject. Shrek's explanation of being layered like an onion is true of us all, we are not one thing but many. Think of his movie characters from the 15 years and remember the characters that talk to themselves, that repeat themselves in a sort of sing-song cadence, that are hot tempered; he plays reflections of himself. It has been almost 10 years since this movie was released and I still remember a short interview he did from his home in support of the movie. He knew it wasn't going to do well commercially, but he had discovered the intricacies, the balance, the practice required to do it correctly and fell in love with the Tango and wanted to expose it to others. There is a line in the movie that you are never too old to learn, I'm sure he interjected that because he discovered the Tango in his 60's and dances it to this day. The dialog isn't wired tight, nor is the plot; his dispatchment to Buenos Aries for a hit seems contrived at best (they couldn't find a local?) but it puts him at the birthplace of the Tango and to see the masters at work is lovely. The ending credits are run under a couple dancing outside that is breathtaking. The dialog of mostly normal people having normal conversations to me was one of the strong points of the movie; it is to greater effect than line by line recital although it did occasionally drag down the pace for sure. One of the female characters comments on dancing club Tango versus competitive Tango; one you must concentrate on every move and one you soar with the eagles and enjoy. While watching the movie, I recommend the club Tango.

Jerseyfinn I'm drawn to any Duvall movie simply because of his past movies and his compelling screen persona. This film takes a little time to settle into because the assassination is more of a subplot in the movie. Once this point sinks in, I really enjoy the film because the Argentinian tango dance scene is enthralling. The tango scenes are filmed so subtly and beautifully.You really feel as if you have been taken along for the journey as you're never quite sure of your surroundings or the people in it as you move beyond the sinister folk and the tango theme fully emerges. Ms. Pedraza's Manuela character is very interesting as she keeps to herself before finally opening up to reveal herself to Duvall. This is when you realize that it's a tango movie . . . something many would never watch on their own, but now that you're there, you're drawn into the story.To me, the interesting thing about Duvall's character is that he is a hit-man who must disguise all of himself to others ( he even leads his benefactors to believe that he would carry out the hit at a specific time when in truth, he always has his own cautious agenda -- and he is correct not to trust anyone ). He hides himself from the tango people he mingles with, and yet it is speaking with Manuela and her parents that he is most honest and sincere about himself and his feelings about tango and relationships. But his next move is to be the ruthless hit-man.Admittedly, you're a little confused initially, but looking back on the film, you feel pretty good about most of it.